The goal of this undergraduate text is to present a balanced work in which political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military aspects of Western civilization are integrated into a chronologically ordered synthesis. The latest research on social history and women's history is integrated, rather than isolated in separate chapters. For this seventh edition, Spielvogel (The Pennsylvania State University) adds material reflecting current scholarship on everything from the Neolithic Age to the war in Iraq, and including considerable new material on the impact other parts of the world have had on the West. Pedagogical features include boxes of primary source documents, detailed chronologies, illustrated timelines, chapter outlines, critical thinking questions, and a glossary. The text's updated color maps feature detailed captions.